In the wake of the gruesome beheading of American journalist, James Wright Foley, it is important to remember that the growing threat of radical Islam is very real.

Next month will mark 13 years since the tragic terror attacks on September 11th, 2001 as well as two years since the attacks in Benghazi. Evil is real and the threat of terrorism exists.

With growing unrest in the Middle East as well as other international crises, it is imperative that we are active in our efforts to combat these threats and to send a message that America is truly exceptional. more >>

An appeals court has ruled against an atheist organization that was suing to have a cross removed from the National September 11 Museum.

A three-judge panel from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that "the cross at Ground Zero" at the museum does not violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

"American Atheists contend that the Port Authority and the foundation impermissibly promote Christianity in violation of the Establishment Clause and deny atheists equal protection of the laws by displaying the cross at Ground Zero in the museum unaccompanied by some item acknowledging that atheists were among the victims and rescuers on September 11," read the opinion.more >>

American Atheists, the group that has been trying to remove the Ground Zero Cross from the National 9/11 Museum in New York, has been asked by a federal appeals court to explain why it finds the artifact to be "offensive," "repugnant," and a violation of the Establishment Clause.

"Plaintiffs' brief should, at a minimum, clarify both the injuries alleged and legal theories relied on to support standing," the Second Circuit Court of Appeals asked in an order late last week.

"Further, to the extent plaintiffs allege that they have been 'injured in consequence of having a religious tradition that is not their own imposed upon them through the power of the state,' First Am. Compl. because individual plaintiffs view use of the challenged 'cross, a Christian symbol, to represent all victims of the 9/11 Attacks' as 'offensive,' 'repugnant,' and 'insult[ing]' to them as atheists, plaintiffs should explain how such offense states a cognizable constitutional injury." more >>

NEW YORK – The National September 11 Memorial Museum opened on Thursday to survivors, families and rescuers. The curator noted that America has never experienced a day like Sept. 11, 2001.

"We all had our different thresholds about what was the right thing to do," the musuem's curator, Jan Ramirez, said according to CNN . "We want to remind people why 9/11 was unlike any other day the country has experienced. But we did not want to cross a threshold where a visitor's empathy shuts down. That would be a horrible misfire of our objectives."

The museum, which will open to the public on May 21, ahead of Memorial Day weekend, contains 12,500 objects, 1,995 oral histories and 580 hours of film and video detailing the events on and following Sept. 11, 2001. On that day, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, hijacked by terrorists working with Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda, were purposefully crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, leading to their collapse. more >>

The American Atheists group is appealing against a federal district court's decision to keep a cross fashioned by two steep beams recovered from the Twin Towers' collapse at the 9/11 memorial museum, while the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has filed an amicus brief in support of the decision, criticizing the attempt to "literally rewrite history."

"As the district court correctly held, it is entirely appropriate and lawful for the curators of a museum to acknowledge the Cross's actual, historic role by placing it in the September 11 Memorial Museum," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ.

"A museum has the freedom to display religiously-themed artifacts of historical or artistic significance without running afoul of the Constitution. We urge the appeals court to affirm the decision of the district court which rejected this bizarre legal challenge." more >>